Babylon in Hindu Kush

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announces that his government will put on trial former military ruler General Musharraf under Art.6 of the Constitution (high treason) for imposing emergency rule in November 2007. There is a certain worry on how the armed forces will react to this upcoming trial. Some say that "Mush"- a nickname that originates from the time of his presidency that mostly coincided with that of another president in another continent with a similarly short name - may get a symbolic sentence, followed by a forced departure from Pakistan.

The new government is determined to give a serious push to improve relations with India through economic ties, initiating buying power from its neighbor with numerous delegations already having visited on both sides. Trade and commerce should be separated from political issues and dealt with first. Linkages between the Punjabs in India and Pakistan should be improved through personal ties - the Sharif family originates from India, as the Indian Prime Minister was born on Pakistani soil!
Members of religious minorities within Sharif's party have found representation in the National and Punjab assemblies, which is noteworthy since Sharif is regarded a conservative religious; this gives hope to more tolerance.




Doha is the place of choice for the opening of a new office: the Afghan Taliban hoist their flag of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", only to lower it after fierce protest from the current President of Afghanistan and intervention by Qatar. The roller coaster "Searching for Peace in Afghanistan" takes new turns with new passengers on board and nobody knows whether it will finally arrive safely or derail in midair.

The dream to travel to AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir) is destined to remain a dream, at least for now, as on the morning of the planned trip still no NOC (non objection certificate) has arrived. Plans are adjusted, heading for the Kaghan Valley in the Hindu Kush next to Kashmir instead.

Lunch break on the way in Shogran and the kind owner of the mountain summer resort offers to serve the food outside on a small bench, seeing my sadly disappointed face in the perspective of eating in the dark restaurant, which can easily be named "room with no view", if the wild Chinese decoration is not counted as "view". The menu has twenty three different dishes, twenty one of them with chicken and the decision on chicken shashlick is met with reservation; chicken Mandjurian would be the best, he insists. No, no sauce, no Chinese, just grilled chicken, and no rice either, please! And here it is, the barbecued chicken with no rice and no sauce, as we are assured that's what it is.

Hindu Kush - the drive up the Kaghan valley and then on top of the mountains a breathtaking adventure in many ways. Streams that cross the stony road, rocks from recent landslides that cover half of it and big holes where chunks just plummeted down the canyon.

Slowed down to walking speed, the crossing cars pass in slow motion and offer unique glances into the intimacy of strangers, that act completely unobserved in the privacy of their cars; children squeezed into the back seat together, screaming and fighting, young men styled for the disco singing to the music, ... a whole kaleidoscope, a miniature world, on the road.

Arriving at dusk in Naran, a special service is offered in midst of the tents, that we usually do not associate with simple camping life: a man with an iron heated by gas waits for potential customers, giving a whole new meaning to the term "Iron Man", that in his case does not demand tremendous athletic qualities.

To make sure to be on time for the adventurous ride for the top of the mountain, as a big crowd is expected to turn up, the caring waiter in the hotel insist on taking the order for an early breakfast the night before, even knocking at our door late at night to inquire about our preference of bread (toast or nan) having forgotten to ask in the restaurant. In the morning at the breakfast table I ask for cold milk for the corn flakes, he grasps the jug with hot milk and appears again after a considerable time with the same little pot and very helpfully starts pouring the piping hot content over the crispy flakes, that collapse immediately to a flat mush... "Good cold now?"

There are over 300 languages and dialects in Pakistan and each is distinctly different from the other. Some of them are Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Balochi, Urdu (this the national language, a mixture of Persian, Arabic and various local languages, similar to Hindi and to make things even more challenging for a Western foreigner written in Arabic script) - I quit Urdu lessons, in sheer desperation over the incapability of memorizing any word of it.

As the mountain drivers are on strike this morning, it takes three attempts and a fair amount of luck in form of a soft heart of the strike leader to actually get us on the way! It will be the only car to make it and so the pristine scenery is all ours.

Another sweet heart, this one to sit on awaits and its softness turns out to be desperately needed - holding onto, or better hanging in the leashes fixed on the rollbar of the jeep - the passenger gets constantly catapulted in the air and only the rooftop, which luckily is of canvas material stops the free flight.

Best to avoid looking to the right side into the deep canyon or to the left side to the overhanging rock rubble and just contemplating about the beauty of the distant mountain peaks! An hour long drive that feels more like a many hours long hike - meeting a young crowd from Karachi that spent the night there, a rest, a tea on the top.

On the long drive back home and determined to give Abbottabad a chance to leave another, more upbeat impression than the notorious one about the former unwanted guest, I follow the path of a journalist who discovered that coffee mania was about to develop in this city.

"Coffity" at New Jadoon Plaza - the entrance to the mall would be easy to identify, we are told, as a statue of a black horse adorns the plaza in front of it. Indeed, it invites to a "Thrill Ride" - expectations are raising!
Looking as casually as possible, trying to hide the growing excitement, I order a cappuccino - a word not very often heard in a country of tea drinkers. "Sure!" the one word answer. Getting even bolder now: Iced cappuccino? Espresso?? "Sure!" HEAVEN! I can bring New Yorkers here (as long as they are willing to skip the 1%, 2%, skimmed or whole milk part...)!!

The owner of "Coffity" is delighted that visitors find the way to his place in Abbottabad from as far away as Islamabad and tells that last week he had an American guest from the military, bringing his family for coffee here. His family??? Things must have changed considerably since last year...

Arriving back in Isloo late at night and the air is hot and heavy, the pool water at 35 ° C - and I could swim through ice water for hours...